Lessons learned from our mothers create conflict

For the sake of readers with sensitive ears, I left a harsh line out of my most recent column (‘Sometimes history - and mothers - get it right’).

[ http://beta.thelondoner.ca/SearchCat.aspx?cid=4186 ]

I made the point that our mothers have good advice (re living small) and used a quote (almost all of it) from Bert, a gentleman raised on a farm near Wingham.

He wrote: “My mother always said ‘be happy with what you have, you don't always need bigger, better, or more,’ and to this day I’ve always lived that way. My son lives by the same motto, and we are quite happy.”

Okay, time to fess up. I snipped out a piece thanks to the miracle of modern technology (the delete button on my keyboard).

Bert’s original email went like this: “My son lives by the same motto. According to many people we are couple of weirdoes, in my opinion they can go to hell. We are quite happy.”

I left some of that out because I think a mother’s advice to do more with less etc. is becoming more acceptable now, especially during hard times (e.g., in cities where budgets or city coffers are over-stretched), and the fair people of Wingham will soon settle down, accept a live small philosophy more fully, and live in peace and tranquility.

So, that’ll be enough of the weirdoes and go to hell business, eh?

.